Do I ship it?

GamesTransportationTransportation + Historical

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Historical Transportation game?

Transportation + Historical

Only 15 developers shipped a Historical Transportation game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Legend of Khiimori, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2764 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 32 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 11.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 32 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Transportation + Historical
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $303k → $451k (still earning) → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Transportation + Historical: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $450 (exactly $450)
Median $7.2k (exactly $7,193)
Top 25% $335k (exactly $335,232)
Top 5% $1.7M (exactly $1,735,521)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 41
Announced 32
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 75% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Transportation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Historical
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Transportation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Open World
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 3,386 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $7.2k, 1 in 4 over $330k, 1 in 20 over $1.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Transportation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Character CustomizationFair19 devs · median $7.2k · 24 announced
  2. + PvPFair10 devs · median $5.7k · 11 announced
  3. + 3D PlatformerFair13 devs · median $3.1k · 12 announced
  4. + RacingFair39 devs · median $2.3k · 35 announced
  5. + Action-AdventureFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  6. + LogicFair29 devs · median $1.7k · 30 announced
  7. + ArcadeFair37 devs · median $839 · 32 announced
  8. + IdlerFair15 devs · median $747 · 20 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds17 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  10. + Online Co-OpPoor odds14 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  11. + Level EditorPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 17 announced
  12. + Life SimPoor odds24 devs · median $27k · 48 announced

All 53 pairs on the Transportation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Railway Empire older $29.99 7,219 82% 217k $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) Gaming Minds Studios
Sailing Era older $24.99 4,565 78% 137k $3.4M (exactly $3,422,380) GY Games
Railway Empire 2 older $49.99 1,966 72% 59k $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) Gaming Minds Studios
Mashinky · EA older $24.99 2,361 84% 71k $1.8M (exactly $1,770,042) Jan Zelený
The Legend of Khiimori · EA $29.99 1,929 82% 58k $1.7M (exactly $1,735,521) Aesir Interactive, NightinGames
Train Fever older $19.99 2,765 61% 83k $1.7M (exactly $1,658,170) Urban Games
Trainz Railroad Simulator 2022 older $39.99 1,214 74% 36k $1.5M (exactly $1,456,436) N3V Games
Railroad Corporation older $35.99 1,094 74% 33k $1.2M (exactly $1,181,192) Corbie Games
Railroad Corporation 2 $39.99 376 69% 11k $451k (exactly $451,087) Corbie Games
Train Sim World® 7 $49.99 278 74% 8.3k $417k (exactly $416,917) Dovetail Games
Worldwide Rush $19.99 559 77% 17k $335k (exactly $335,232) Memel Games
Ile d'Or · EA $14.99 164 88% 4.9k $74k (exactly $73,751) あとらそふと
TRS22 Model Railroaders Edition $39.99 15 66% 450 $18k (exactly $17,996) N3V Games
SkyChart: Airline Executive · EA $24.99 20 75% 600 $15k (exactly $14,994) Casey Jones Labs
Silk Roads II: Paths of Fortune $9.99 24 75% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) Priory Games
Museum Girls Fleet Maneuvers: The Dockhand $4.99 18 94% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) HitD Entertainment
Ian's Rocket $14.99 3 100% 90 $1.3k (exactly $1,349) IQopolis

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.